Trump Takes to Twitter to Complain of Media Coverage After Iowa Loss

The billionaire tries to tout his second place finish to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucuses

Billionaire Donald Trump began complaining about the media’s treatment of his campaign Tuesday morning after his loss to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in Iowa, tweeting that it was covering his “long-shot great finish” unfairly.

He said he had finished strong despite experts who said he could not do well in the country's first presidential nominating contest.

Trump went uncharacteristically silent ahead of Monday's results with a 7:30 p.m. tweet -- that appears to have since been deleted -- encouraging supporters to caucus for him.

Trump returned to his nearly 6 million followers just about 11 a.m. ET with a fusillade of attacks. Besides going after the media, he tweeted that voters were not giving him credit for self-funding his campaign.

The often bombastic businessman typically starts his day with a battery of tweets: insults about his competitors or exhortations to followers to, in the words of his campaign, “Make America Great Again.”

After weeks of packed rallies and poll numbers that suggested he had passed Cruz, Trump finished second in the country’s first nominating contests in Iowa Monday night, a loss that raised questions about the depth of his support. The Texas senator got the support of 28 percent of caucus-goers to 24 percent for Trump. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida had a strong third-place finish with 23 percent.

After his defeat, Trump told supporters Monday night: “We're leaving tonight and tomorrow afternoon we'll be in New Hampshire and that will be something special. It's going to be a great week.... I think we're going to be proclaiming victory I hope."

In New Hampshire on Tuesday, Trump's rivals were ready with "loser" barbs.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said at his campaign headquarters in Bedford that, "we can stop with the Donald Trump inevitability, because the guy who does nothing but win lost last night."

Trump, who has been leading in New Hampshire polls, is scheduled to speak at a rally in Milford at 7 p.m.

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